Rafael Payare and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (OSM) only half convinced us in Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie Tuesday evening at the Maison symphonique. Decryption.

There was no crowd for the first post-pandemic presentation of the French composer’s master symphonic work, which the OSM is reprising this Wednesday evening. The name alone of the Turangalîla probably does not mean much to the average music lover, much less, in any case, than this or that symphony by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky or Mahler.

Regulars of the OSM, however, remember having already heard it in 2011 and in 2017 with Kent Nagano, one of the finest connoisseurs of this symphony (of all Messiaen, in fact) on a global scale.

Instead of preceding it with other works like its predecessor, Payare chose to present the score alone, which is not a bad idea given the rehearsal time needed to polish this abysmal work, but also to leave a little chance to the public.

Emperor Joseph II, who told Mozart that his Abduction from the Seraglio contained “really a lot of notes,” would surely have had a nosebleed upon hearing the Turangalîla-Symphonie…

The sound saturation is caused in particular, in the fortississimos, by the ondes Martenot (very accurately Cécile Lartigau) and the cymbals. We often had the impression that the Maison symphonique was perhaps insufficient to contain the surges of the symphony.

In terms of interpretation, we witnessed a phenomenon occasionally observed in concert: that of a musician who begins in a cautious manner (there is something to be said for this challenging work!) and then lets himself be more relaxed. go for the rest of the evening.

This is particularly evident in the second of the ten movements, Chant d’amour 1, in which the contrasts of tempo and character (e.g. “moderate, heavy”, “a little slow, tender” and “passionate, a little lively”) are fairly laminated. It’s as if Payare didn’t enjoy the more relaxed passages enough and didn’t have enough fun in the fast-paced episodes.

The same goes for Chant d’amour 2 (fourth movement), a sort of scherzo which here proves insufficiently playful. In contrast, the section “Very moderate, with love (passionate, generous)” remains too prosaic.

We are surprised by this hesitation to highlight the multiple reliefs of the messianic landscape, especially since the conductor had excelled in doing so in September in a not so distant work, Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring.

And he had fun like never before in the Final, which ended with thunderous applause from the public who accompanied the OSM in this real long-distance race.

Solo pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, who knows his part like the back of his hand (he notably recorded it 30 years ago), excelled throughout, as capable of infinite tenderness as he is of flexing his muscles in the more athletic passages.

There are still several places left to live this real experience this Wednesday evening.